Shuttle controls



April 10, 1962 L. G. URQUHART SHUTTLE coNTRoLs Filed Nov. 29. 1957 United States Patent "ice 3,028,882 SHUTTLE CONTROLS Lloyd G. Urquhart, Westboro, Mass., assignor to H. F.

Livermore Corporation, Allston, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 29, 1957, Ser. No. 699,778 6 Claims. (Cl. 139-185) This invention relates to looms, and in particular to the shuttle boxes thereof. It has as its leading object the attainment of .more uniform picking and checking of the shuttle, so as to avoid the many kinds of injury to the quality of the cloth as well as the loss of production which are caused by faulty boxing of the shuttle, and also by the faulty guiding of the shuttle when picked,

One of the main factors limiting the speed of looms, and hence their output, has been inadequate shuttle control with the attendant improper positioning of the shuttle in the shuttle box which results from the increase of the speed of the shuttles flight as the rate of working of the loom is speeded up. This not only causes weak picks, leading to bad weaving as well as the trapping of the shuttle in the shed with resultant Warp breakage, but prevents proper replenishment of the filling in the shuttle by the automatic mechanism provided for this purpose. Further, when the conventional shuttle box is adjusted to meet the increased speed of the shuttle, it arrests the shuttle with a sudden shock which frequently throws off coils of lling from the end of the bobbin with resultant tangling and breakage of the filling. The use of the regular shuttle-checking means for overcoming the added momentum of the shuttle at higher loom speeds further results in excessive wear of the check strap, front box plate, and binder leathers, and, most important, rapid and destructive wear of the shuttle. Too, the rebound of the binderV from the initial impact of the entering shuttle throws it clear out of braking contact with the entering shuttle for a substantial extent of shuttle travel, and if the binder spring be made strong enough to prevent this rebound, the shuttle is choked in the box and never reaches the extreme end of its intended travel to attain its proper starting point for the next pick.

Along with these and other well known troubles incurred when an attempt is made to increase the loom speed materially, the extra burden on the pick motion incident to expelling the shuttle from the box when the binder and the front plate are thus made to grip the shuttle more tightly, is added to the increased load on the pick motion of driving the shuttle at the necessary higher velocity. Further, the frictional heat generated in the leather of the box and binder facings engaging the shuttle and of the check strap, because of the greater checking effort, changes the moisture content and consequent frictional characteristics. Hence the difficulty in attaining continuous running of the loom upon restarting after a shut-down and cooling off for a period of hours or days has been unavoidable and in direct proportion to the speed of the loom. Even with the moderate increase of loom speed involved in running at 190 picks per minute, a loom fixer often has to spend an hour or more at frequently recurring intervals in adjusting the boxing action of a loom, with corresponding loss of production of the loom; and when the loom speed is to be changed such readjustment is unavoidable.

There is also a problem of giving the protector mechanism time to get into knock-off position in case the shuttle fails to enter its box.

It is the object of the present invention to obviate or lessen these well known obstacles to raising the loom speed, so as to attain greater production through increased loomspeeds up to 250 or more picks per minute in stand- Patented Apr.V 10, 1962 ard width looms, without interruption of output through troubles caused by the boxing of the shuttle.

A device which has provided improved control of the shuttle at loom speeds up to -180 picks per minute is that of U.S. Patent No. 2,763,295, granted to T. P.- Bostic. It uses a pivoted frontshuttle box wall instead of the usual binder to apply the frictional braking pressure to check the shuttle, employing the customary binder spring and the usual protector fingers resistance to displacement to create this pressure, by their action on a lever connected in pivotal manner to a bar fixed on the free end of the front box wall. However, when the loom speed is increased, variations in control and erratic positioning of the shuttle result, because the binder spring is incapable of preventing the front box wall from rebounding from the shuttle through the momentum of the lever and connected parts imparted by the impact of the shuttle against the front wall. Stiffening this spring only results in choking the shuttle in the box, as happens in the case of the familiar binder.

The present invention employs a new principle to achieve an improvement upon the structure of the said patent making possible the proper running of the loom at speeds up to 250 or more picks per minute, being limited to this figure only by other adjuncts of the loom. Actuation of the pivoted front box wall by springs is eliminated, and this wall, which I term a shuttle controller, is made to act on the shuttle wholly through its inertia to apply a braking pressure against the entering shuttle, and likewise tovrelieve this pressure and release the shuttle when the latter is to be picked out from the box.

Means are provided to cause the shuttle controller to operate the finger of the protector mechanism in usual manner in case the mechanical type of this customary safeguard is employed.

The details of the manner and means of attaining these and other improved results are as set forth hereinafter in the following description and ,shown in one embodiment in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. l is a plan view of the left-hand end of the lay of a loom showing a shuttle box constructed with the features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the same.

FIG. 3 is Va view similar to FlG. l, showing the parts in the relation they occupy when a shuttle is present in the box.

The device of the invention is shown by way of illus-y tom plate 3 aixed thereon in usual manner, with the picker 5 mounted on the picker-stick 7 working in the sloty 9. The protector finger 11 on the arm 12 of the protector rockshaft (not shown) works in usual manner to control the dagger (not shown) of the protector mechanism, allowing engagement of the dagger with the frog (not shown) on the loom side to stop the loom when the shuttle fails -to enter the box at either end of the lay.

` In accordance with the invention, the customary fixed front wall of the shuttle box is replacedtby a member 15 which as noted is termed the shuttle controller. This member is pivoted at its inward end, by means of `an eccentric bushing 19 fixed in its hub 17 with capacity for angular adjustment, on the inward one of the usual lugs 21 on the front edge of the box botto-m 3, by means of a cap screw 23 and lock washer 25. This shuttle controller has the usual feeler slot 27. Its rear surface is covered with a thin facing 29 of stainless steel or of other metal of high nickel content, or otherwise non-corroding, suitably aixed as by screws 31 at its curved inward guide wall 33 and at the outward end 35 of its working surface. A leather facing may be used instead, where greater checking power is needed. Eccentric bushing 19 is used to set the inward end of the shuttle controller at the desired distance from the back wall to fit the shuttle, normally about 1/16" greater than shuttle width.

An integral extension 37 of suitable shape, herein cylindrical, on the outward end of the controller is equipped with a headed stud, herein a simple cap screw 39, which is mounted by its threads in a threaded bore 41 extending transversely through extension 37 and secured by lock-nut 43. The shank of this stud or cap screw extends freely through a horizontally extending slot 45 in the upstanding forward end 47 of a rigid bracket 49 affixed by cap screws 51 to the skirt 53 of the box bottom 3. The head of the cap screw 39 forms stop means engaging the brack et to limit the rearward swing of controller 15. For this purpose, it is made adjustable in its extent frontwardly from extension 37. Slots in the depending flange of bracket 49 receive the screws 51 and permit up and down as well as angular adjustment of the bracket.

An expanding coil spring 55 surrounds the shank of cap screw or stud 39, being conned between the locknut 43 and the flange of a bronze bushing 57 on the stud and engaging the rearward wall of slotted portion 47, the bushing having a reduced cylindrical portion fitting slidably within the slot 45. This spring lightly resists the relative frontward movement of the controller 15.

The back wall or box back 59, fixed to the shuttle box bottom 3 at its outward end by bolt 61 through the widened end 64 of a horizontal stitfening flange 62 on the back, and bolted to the lay sword as usual at its other end, has a continuous flat shuttle-engaging surface 63 disposed in the plane of the reed face. An integral shuttleguard 13 is formed on the box back 59, after the usual manner. A guide 67 composed of a strip of leather or plastic 69 adhesively affixed to an overlying metal plate 71 is attached by screws 73 to the top edge of back wall 59 to overhang the rear wall of the shuttle 75 and prevent its upward escape from the box. When worn by shuttle contact, the guard is turned end for end or over to provide a fresh surface against the shuttle.

The device works in the following manner: the shuttlecontroller 15, being pivotally mounted on the bushing 19 with its center of mass well outward beyond this pivotal point, is free to swing back and forth within limits across the box bottom 3 as the lay beats back and forth. During the rearward stroke of the lay the outward end of shuttle-controller 15, namely the portion bearing the extension 37, tends by reason of its inertia to lag behind the other parts of the lay and the shuttle box, increasingly as the lay picks up speed to its maximum when its crankshaft reaches top center, at or about which point in the cycle the shuttle 75 is picked out of the box. Thus there is no substantial rearward pressure of shuttle-controller tending to grip and hold the shuttle in the box, and the shuttle is freed to be expelled from the box by the picker with little or no frictional resistance exerted by the box walls.

The spring 55 is made very light, on the order of l to 2 pounds pressure as installed, and is not intended to cause any appreciable clamping action of the shuttle-controller against the shuttle, but merely to keep the controller from moving away from the shuttle. Its primary function is to cause the controller 15 to hold the shuttle against or parallel to the back wall of the shuttle-box so as to ensure the shuttle being thrown straight out of the box on a course precisely parallel to the reed. The straight and continuous working face of the rear wall 59 along which the shuttle is thus guided by the controller aids in assuring straight flight, since this face is exactly aligned with the reed face and unbroken by the usual binder and its slot, and thus gives three times the usual length of guiding surface here, instead of relying on the obliquely set front wall as heretofore. Spring S5 further serves to dampen vibration and take up play and slap of shuttle-controller 15 when the box is empty. Likewise, stud 39 in slot 45 of flange 47 serves to prevent up-and-down vibration of the free end of controller 15.

After the lay reverses its direction of travel at back center and as it accelerates in the forward direction to its maximum speed at bottom center, the inertia of the swinging controller 15 again causes it to lag behind the other parts of the shuttle-box, and to swing across the box bottom 3 toward the back plate 67 as far as permitted by the setting of the stud or screw 39, so that its outward end portion stands closer to the rear wall 63 than the width of the shuttle. On the return pick, the shuttle enters the box just before the lay reaches bottom center, forcing itself between the back wall and the movable front wall comprised by the swinging controller 15 and displacing the latter to make room for itself. Since the lay is still accelerating during this interval, the inertia of the swinging controller 15 exerts a continuously increasing resistance to forward displacement, overcomes its tendency to bounce away from the shuttle, and counteracts the increasing leverage exerted by the shoulder of the shuttle in displacing the controller as its point of contact with the controller shifts outwardly away from the controllers pivot at 23. Thus maintaining a continuous prolonged contact and resistance to the entry of the shuttle, the latter is brought to rest in gradual manner in precise and unvarying position each time.

This inertia effect has been found to be so powerful that provision must be made to prevent its becoming excessive. To this end, I form the shuttle-controller 15 of lightweight metal such as aluminum or magnesium alloy, or even plastic, and further reduce its mass by forming recesses S1, 83 in its front face when necessary. The usual feeler slot 27 is elongated, for the same purpose. I have found that if cast iron is used, the shuttle-checking action becomes so strong that the entering shuttle is choked in the box and cannot reach its intended rest position, fully within the box. This means of reducing the shuttle-checking power of the inertia effect is preferred to that of shifting the controllers pivotal point outwardly (which would attain this end were heavier metal employed), because it permits the use of the lug 21 initially present on the box bottom for the pivot bushing mounting. Further, on picking out, such reduction of mass and consequently of inertia is needed to prevent the controller from overpowering the spring 55 and other connected parts and swinging entirely clear of the shuttle, letting the emerging shuttle wabble and collide With the reed and warps.

The spring 55 is not essential to the operation of the shuttle-controller in checking the shuttle; in fact, the loom will run, with proper boxing of the shuttle, in the entire absence of this spring. But this spring, being made and calibrated to the exact strength in pounds and ounces needed for the width of the particular loom and the speed at which such loom is to be run, controls the inertia or the effect thereof and modifies it within limits to effect ne adjustment thereof, as screw 39 is adjusted in or out.

The controller 15 suiiices to check and position the shuttle solely through its own inertia and without reliance on the cooperative effort of the pickerstick check strap, as has been necessary heretofore. Hence the friction controlling device of the check strap is released to leave the check strap loose therein, the check strap merely serving to prevent rebound of the pickerstick and make sure it awaits the shuttle at the same point in the box each time the shuttle returns. Thus the loom can be restarted after standing idle for prolonged periods without the usual troublesome effort of adjusting the .check strap friction controlling devices as regularly required heretofore to compensate for moisture entering the leather while idle and cold and changing its frictional characteristics.

It is found that even when a leather facing is used on Athe shuttle-controller there is no moisture problem either, with consequent variations in the shuttles position due to changes in the frictional character` of the facings after .the loom stands idle, for in the present device the boxes and the shuttle do not heat up in use, since the increased ybraking area dissipates the heat.

The leather facings, pickers, and check straps thus have a greatly extended useful life, wear of the shuttles is much reduced, and slufimg of the filling off from the bobbin nose is eliminated, owing to the more gradual vchecking of the shuttle by the prolonged and continuous contact of the shuttle-controller with the entering shuttle and the uniform or diminishing braking action it exerts on the shuttle. This is in contrast with the action of the conventional binder working through its slot in the shuttle box Wall and rebounding repeatedly clear out of contact with the entering shuttle upon impact thereof. When the braking friction is applied in this intermittent manner, `so much binder pressure must be used at high loom speeds, through increasing the pressure of the protector vfinger and binder spring against the binder, that the shuttles have been worn out inthree or four days use at high speeds.

The protector finger 11 is no longer utilized to assist in checking the shuttle, as heretofore through its pressure on the conventional binder. It is employed herein for its primary function alone, that of controlling the engagement of the dagger with the frog to stop the loom and prevent' the trapping of the shuttle in the shed with resultant warp breakage, when the shuttle fails to reach the shuttle box.. Accordingly, the protector rockshaft spring is lightened. Having less work to do, the wear and tear on the protector mechanism is lessened, with resulting longer life.

To work the protector mechanism in its usual manner, the present device provides a lever 87 pivoted on a bushing on' a shouldered vcap screw S9 fixed in a lug 91 provided therefor on flange 62 on the back of back wall 59. The fiat inward end 93 of this lever stands free between the protector finger 11 and the back wall 59, engaging the protector finger 11 through a non-metallic pad 95, aiiixed to it by adhesive and screws, when the shuttle is in the box. This lever, which l term the protector finger controller, is also made of light-weight metal, being preferably of U-section for a distance at each side of its boss provided for pivot 89, also for lightness. The outward extremity 97, of round section, is bored axially and tapped to receive the shank of a cap screw 99, on which is mounted an annular member with part-spherical exterior surface comprising the inner member of a balland-socket joint, of which the outer or socket member 101 has a hollow shank screwed onto a link 103 which extends slidably through a second part-spherical member forming the ball of another ball-and-socket joint of which the socket member 105 has a threaded tang screwed into yan axial bore in the end of extension 37 of the shuttlecontroller. Nuts 107, 109, on the threaded frontward end of link 103 provided for adjustment of the effective length of this link and establish the maximum spaced relation between the shuttle-controller and the protector finger controller.

'Ihus arranged, the frontward deflection of shuttle-controller 15 by the entering shuttle is communicated through link 103 to pull the outward end of protector finger controller 87 frontwardly with attendant rearward movement of the inward end 93 to displace the protector finger 11 rearwardly, this in usual manner preventing engagement of the dagger with the frog of the protector mechanism. Because the ball member within socket 105 is free to slide on link 103, the shuttle-controller 15 is free to swing rearwardly into its shuttle-checking position and to 'exert the full force of its inertia without infiuence by the p rotector finger controller 87. The tendency of protector finger controller 87 to continue its swing cannot transmit a forward thrust to the shuttle-controller 15 to disturb or vary its braking pressure against the shuttle, because of this lost-motion connection or linkage. The amount of initial resistance to frontward movement of controller 15 added through its linkage to protector finger controller `87 is relatively slight, owing to the lightness of the parts and through balanced mounting on pivot 89 at their combined center of mass and the easing of the protector rockshaft spring so that only about 3 pounds rearward pressure is needed to displace the protector finger. A light expanding coil spring 111, seated in a cavity formed for it in controller 87, bears against the rear face of back Wall 59 and holds this controller from slapping when the shuttle is in the box at the other end of the lay and the protector finger thus held back away from the controllcrs end 93. Wings 113 formed on the rear surface of back wall 59 in vertically spaced relation to each other receive the controller l87 between them to prevent vertical vibration thereof. Y y

The improved device permits the throw of the protector finger to be reduced approximately one half, because it is no longer used to help check the shuttle by applying pressure to the binder. The dagger is accordingly lifted only half its previous distance above the frog, thus requiring only half the previous time `to descend into striking range of the frog before the lay Vcarries it past the frog. Hence the loom can be run faster without interfering with the protector mechanisms action.

In cases where the conventional mechanical type of protector mechanism described is replaced by electrically actuated loom stopping means responsive to devices such as a micro-switch or a photo-electric cell to detect the presence or absence of the shuttle in the box, the protector fingercontroller 87 and link 103 with their required parts are simply omitted, the shuttle-controller 15 still operating through its inertia as described to check and release the shuttle. y

The novel shuttle-controller compensates automatically for changes in the rate at which the loom is run, since the inertia and shuttle-checking power ofthe shuttlecontroller vary in direct proportion to changes in the rate of travel of the lay. Thus it is found that no adjustment of the parts involved is needed to accommodate changes in the loom speeds from to 220 picks per minute.

The accurate positioning of the shuttle within the box at each pick accomplished by the improved structure makes possible correct and unfailing insertion of the new supply of filling into the shuttle by the automatic transfer mechanism. For this purpose, the shuttle must be positioned precisely, within Vs" total variation in the shuttles position, both to make sure the bobbin is held by all three of its rings in the jaws of the shuttle, and also to avoid slack picks which in synthetic yarns will show up ofi-color in subsequent dyeing of the goods.

It is to be understood that the novel shuttle box structure described is likewise employed at the other end of the lay (not shown) where the automatic filling replenishing mechanism is located. At such location, the swinging controller is provided with the usual thread-cutter slot and a weft removal exit slot of known construction; otherwise the parts are constructed and operate as described and shown. It is used at one end alone, in change-box looms.

While I have illustrated and described a certain form in which the invention may be embodied, I am aware that many modifications may be made in the invention by any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, I do not Wish to 7 be limited to the particular form shown, or to the details of construction thereof, but what I do claim is:

1. In a loom having a reciprocating lay, a shuttle thereon, picking means, protector mechanism having a finger, a shuttle box havingA a bottom, a fixed box Wall,

and a box wall pivoted to the box bottom, and a lever adapted to actuate the protector finger, the combination therewith of a link connecting the pivoted box wall to one end of the lever, with capacity to pull this end of the lever to actuate the finger and having a lost-motion connection letting such end of the lever move in the direction in which pulled without pushing the pivoted box wall frontwardly.

2. In a loom having a reciprocating lay, a shuttle thereon, picking means for the shuttle, a protector rod finger, a shuttle box having a box bottom, a xed box wall, and a pivotally mounted box wall, the combination therewith of means actuating the nger in response to the shuttles displacement of the pivotally mounted box wall on entering the box, such means including a lost-motion connection preventing such means from causing movement of the pivotally mounted box wall in the direction of such displacement.

3. In a loom having a reciprocating lay, a shuttle thereon, picking means for the shuttle, a protector rod finger, a shuttle box on the end of the lay and'having a bottom and a fixed box wall, the combination therewith of a box wall pivoted at its end adjacent the lay on the'box bottom and free to swing toward and from the fixed box Wall by reason of its inertia as the lay moves back and forth, a lever on the lay adapted to displace the protector finger and having capacity for a substantial degree of movement before engaging the protector finger, and connecting means linking the lever to the swinging box wall and actuating the lever by motion derived from the swinging box wall when the latter moves away from the fixed box wall and having a lost-motion connection with the swinging box wall permitting con` tinued` movement of the lever in the direction in which actuated without causing accompanying movement of the pivotally mounted box wall.

4. In a loom having a reciprocating lay, a shuttle thereon, a shuttle box on the end of the lay, picking means picking the shuttle across the lay and into and out from the shuttle box, the shuttle box having a bottom and a box wall fixed on such bottom, the combination therewith of a box wall pivoted at its end adjacent the lay and adapted to press against and retard the shuttle as the latter enters the box, a protector rod finger, a lever pivoted on the shuttle box and adapted to actuate the finger, and a link pivotally connected to the lever and slidably connected to the free end of the pivoted box wall with capacity to transmit a pull but not a push between the pivoted box wall and the lever.

5. In a loom, in combination, a reciprocating lay, a shuttle on the lay, picking means to propel the shuttle along the lay acting as the lay moves backward in the loom, and a shuttle box fixed on the lay comprising a box bottom, a back box wall fixed on such bottom, and a front box Wall, and means pivotally mounting the front box wall in connection with such bottom with capacity to swing toward the fixed wall and against the shuttle substantially wholly by its inertia as the lay moves forward.

6. In a loom, in combination, a reciprocating lay, a shuttle on the lay, picking means to propel the shuttle along the lay acting as the lay moves backward in the loom, and a shuttle box fixed on th'e lay comprising a box bottom, a back box wall fixed on such bottom, and a. front box wall, and means mounting the front box wall in connection with such bottom and as the lay moves forward allowing the front box wall substantially Wholly by its inertia to bear against the shuttle as the latter enters the box and also through its inertia to lessen its pressure against the shuttle as the latter is picked out of the box.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 732,437 Parker June 3G, 1903 2,451,914 Budzyna Oct. 19, 1948 2,710,030 Work lune 7, 1955 2,763,295 Bostic Sept. 18, 1956 

